


Orphans

by Uniasus



Category: How to Train Your Dragon (Movies)
Genre: AT from the first movie, Gen, Politics, Sad with a Happy Ending, Survival, these characters are not the ones you remember, tragic
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-07-20
Updated: 2015-07-20
Packaged: 2018-04-10 06:51:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,943
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4381640
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Uniasus/pseuds/Uniasus
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>They took too long - they arrived at Dragon Island too late. They were met with a beach full of dead Hooligans. Boats burned, bodies crushed. Not a single soul survived. All they could do was turn around and fly back to Berk.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Orphans

**Author's Note:**

> I raced through Race to the Edge and wanted to dive into the httyd world again. I probably should have returned to the Fated series (Druid!Hiccup crosses my mind from time to time), but instead my fingers opened a 1 page fic idea I wrote ages ago and started typing. I have about 3 chapters pre-written at this point.
> 
> I'm not a super fan of the title, Orphans, but well, all my tumblr posts about this fic have been tagged with that so there you go.
> 
> Heads up - Hiccup's relationship with the others is very different from what you might expect. Even when going back and editing things I had to replace 'friends' several times. Because Hiccup has no friends, not really, not at this point. He is the skilled kid whose attention people want, but he's never formed attachments with his classmates. He's not Berk's hero. He hasn't led the riders into battle. He is just a famous village face.

By age seven, most Vikings are familiar with the idea of loss and incomplete families. Still, nothing prepares you for the sudden realization that not only are you an orphan, all your friends are too.

"We're too late," Astrid said, directing the Deadly Nadder to circle the carnage. The others filled in behind her.

"I refuse to believe that. There's got to be survivors!" Hiccup leaned over the dragon, scanning the ground below for moving bodies. 

"Even if there were, none of us know first aid. And in case you didn't notice, all the boast are ashes. We couldn't get anyone back to Gothi."

Hiccup had noticed. His eyes had gone there first because Toothless had been on one of those boats. From this high up, Hiccup couldn't see anything that might be his friend. The entire beach was burnt bits of wood and charred Vikings.

"I don't care. Land."

With a heavy sigh, Astrid directed the nadder to a clear patch of rock near the base of the mountain. Hiccup was off in a flash, pressing a finger against the neck of the closest Hooligan to feel for a pulse. None. He moved to the next person. And then quickly to the next one. 

He was vaguely aware of Astrid explaining Hiccup's hopes and Fishlegs starting to move amongst the fallen Vikings too. Eventually, the rest of his classmates joined him in checking for heartbeats and breaths. They found none. 

"Hiccup?" Astrid softly asked as they stood around the body of Stoick the Vast. "Hiccup, what do we do?"

Hiccup wanted to give them proper rites - set the bodies in ships and then light them on fire before pushing them out to sea. But there were no ships, intact ones anyway, and even if the fleet was whole the capacity for Vikings standing on their feet was more than the capacity for dead Vikings laying across the deck with their weapons beside them. Hiccup scanned the area around then, gaze landing on the dragons nosing a section of the beach Hiccup knew contained the remains of his father's boat. Where Toothless was. Had been. There was no body and no broken restraints. 

The night fury probably sunk and drowned. 

"We'll use the dragons to set the beach on fire."

Silently, they walked toward their mounts and hopped up. The twins, ever having a knack for knowing how to cause destruction, already knew how to get their zippleback to spew fog and sparks. They covered the beach with the green fog and then lit it. The other dragons caught on and released flames. 

They sat on their dragons above the pyre and watched it burn. 

There was a roar from the mountain and Hiccup felt the nadder shudder under him and Astrid. He knew the noise came from the large dragon at the center of the nest, no doubt the dragon who had killed most of the able men and women of Berk. 

Snotlout shot a worried look at the volcano, but remained silent as the fire continued to burn under them. It was only when the sun started setting and the fire was calming down did Hiccup steer the nadder towards Berk. Astrid tightened her arms around his waist and buried her head in his back. 

The flight home was silent.

* * *

The dragons had just needed to be told to go to Berk and off they flew, requiring no additional direction from their riders. They flew through the night, leaving the teens to fall into a fitful sleep. Hiccup hadn't heard Astrid's sobs, though he had felt her tears through his vest. The fabric was still wet when he had drifted off himself. 

Hiccup woke up to the feeling of decent in his belly. It was just after dawn, the soft light easy on his eyes as he watched Berk come closer.

He had a brief moment of panic - the rest of the village didn't know about riding dragons, they'd most likely shoot on sight - but then realized the issue of being seen and landing was the least of their worries. Berk was just waking up, no one would be expecting dragons, and 80% of the dragon killers wouldn't be there. They were ashes in the wind. 

Hiccup turned around, looking past Astrid rubbing her eyes to the sea over her shoulder. He thought he saw a bit of smoke on the horizon, but wasn't sure. It had been hours since they had lit up the beach of bodies.

Stormfly squawked as a woman rushed out of a house. "Dragons!" she screamed, brandishing the kitchen knife. 

Her shouts had suddenly wide alert vikings stumbling down the steps and children peaking through windows. None of them however seemed to know what to do with the fact that the landing deadly nadder, as well as gronkle, monstrous nightmare, and zippleback, had riders. 

"Hiccup?" A viking with a bucket on his head came forward, the confusion on his face matching those of everyone around him. Bucket, as the viking was named, was no warrior and had stayed behind on Berk. He also wasn't who Hiccup wanted to talk to.

"Hiccup, why are you guys on dragons? And where is the fleet?"

Hiccup slid off Stormfly, stumbling a bit as the blood flowed into his limbs properly. Sitting for such a long period of time in the cold of high elevation had made his legs numb.

"The..." 

It suddenly hit him. He was fourteen, fourteen, and while there had been rumors about Stoick naming Snotlout his heir Stoick never had and so by default Hiccup was now the chief of the Hairy Hooligans. He wasn't prepared for this and all his father's advisers who could help him were also gone.

"Hiccup?" It wasn't just Bucket asking now. It was Mulch who had spoken and the question was echoed in the eyes of everyone around him.

He had never been a proper viking. Never. He had been the embarrassment of the entire village just a few months ago, it's praised student a few weeks ago, and then it's greatest source of anger yesterday when it was evident he had been using tricks and refused to follow Viking tradition. And yet, they were all looking at him.

No, not him. His silence had gone on too long. Eyes had turned equally to Astrid and Snotlout. 

Snotlout opened and then shut his mouth. He had always liked attention, but it was obvious this type wasn't what he wanted. The tribe was looking for answers and he had none to give. Hiccup knew his cousin wouldn't do well with responsibility, he didn't take things seriously enough. 

Astrid did though. Astrid was a true up and coming shield-maiden. Quick with an ax, stuck to tradition but could be reasoned with. If she spoke now, she'd be the voice of their group. The person the tribe looked to for answers, and more importantly solutions. Astrid could lead, but even as the thought entered Hiccup's head she was prodding him forward while shuffling backwards.  
What had his dad said once upon a time ago? No one wanted to lead, but if people looked to you to do it they had the confidence that you could.

Somewhere in the past two days, Hiccup had gained Astrid's confidence. It was something he had never dreamed of having before. Astrid was willing for follow him, had already followed him as he put in motion something crazy. And wasn't that what Berk needed now? A plan?

He took a deep breath and stepped forward under his own power.

"We're on dragons because I trained them. As I said before, we don't have to kill them. We can work with them."

An image of Toothless flashed in his head and Hiccup clenched his hand into a fist. The dragon was drowned. He would never work with the night fury again.

"As for the fleet-"

"Let us through!"

There were shots of discomfort as someone pushed their way into the circle that had been growing around the riders. It was Rancid, the leathersmith, with Gothi riding on his shoulders. The two took one look at Hiccup and his friends before Gothi tapped Rancid's head and the viking grabbed Hiccup's arm.

"Hey!" He protested, but still went forward. His classmates jogged to keep up and based on the sounds of shocked gasps and dragon grumbles Hiccup guessed the dragons were following their riders. 

"Whatever you were going to say, Hiccup, don't until we have a council meeting."

"Council meeting? Rancid, most of the council-"

Rancid jerked his arm. "Don't. Say. Anything." 

Hiccup closed his mouth and let the leathersmith pull him into the mead hall. His friends followed but someone started closing the door in the dragons' faces. Stormfly squawked and pushed her way in, but when the door hit Hookfang in the side of his head the red dragon pulled his neck close and the door shut with a thud. 

"You can try pushing Stormfly out, but as soon as you open those doors I can guarantee the other three dragons will try to force their way in." Astrid cocked a hip with an arm on it, looking at the Viking who was still touching the door's latch. The viking looked at the deadly nadder, who to her credit was just standing there and looking around, and then the door as a body hit it.

"If it doesn't do anything..."

"She won't." Arm now free, Hiccup reached to the soft spot under the nadder's chin and scratched. The dragon melted to the floor with a coo.

Hiccup looked around the mead hall. It was empty but for his friends, Rancid, Gothi, and the door Viking. "Where's the rest of the council?" he asked Gothi. 

The elder pointed towards the back room where most meetings were held. Hiccup nodded and strode forward, the other teens at his heels.

Inside the room were four other Vikings - two men and two women that Hiccup only knew in passing. They weren't his dad's advisers, but nor were they old and frail. Healthy vikings with years ahead of them. It clicked who these people were.

The backup council. The people in charge of Berk when the warriors left. Those good with numbers and words, with logistics and planning in case the the fleet was delayed coming back or - or didn't come back at all.

Hiccup stared at them, these important people in Berk, hoping their names would come to him. They didn't. He was failing as a leader. 

"Now," Gothi spoke, and that was a surprise, hearing Gothi speak, "Tell us what happened. I can see the soot on your clothes and the grief in your eyes. Tell us all."

And so Hiccup did. How his dad had gone to slay the dragon queen, how he had convinced the others to ride dragons after the fleet to stop it. Hiccup had wanted Toothless back and hadn't believed the fleet could take on the dragon queen. They had gone to stop a slaughter but had arrived too late. They had found a beach full of bodies and burned it to a crisp, the queen toasty in her mountain roost. 

"You are the council now," Hiccup finished. "Well, I suppose you and me." 

He cast a glance towards Snotlout, but his cousin didn't seem upset at the assertion. 

Report done, Hiccup felt his shoulders sag. This was the council, their job was to look after Berk. They could make an announcement to the village, come up with what to do next, he wouldn't have to present a plan at all.

"Do you think the dragon queen will attack us?"

"Excuse me?"

One of the women viking spoke, blonde hair braided rolls over her ears and no helmet to hide the scar Hiccup could see at her hairline. "Another tribe would attack us back. Would a dragon? You are the expert."

Hiccup didn't know how to answer that. Most of his knowledge was a combination of texts from the Book of Dragons and observations he had done. They contradicted each other in many cases. Dragons could be territorial and it was obvious this queen could control other dragons. But did that mean she would send the dragons to attack? 

Fishlegs spoke up. "Some dragons would attack, yes. Especially if they felt threatened either personally or in terms of territory. They are intelligent creatures, we're seen them work together when they raid us, and it's obvious they have a form of hierarchy based on what Hiccup's said."

The council looked at him. Fishlegs swallowed before continuing. "The question is, is this dragon, this-"

"Green Death," Astrid supplied and Hiccup nodded. It fit.

"The question is if the Green Death is a dragon who attacks when she feels threatened and if she knows it was us who attacked her."

"We've seen her eat other dragons." Astrid wrapped her arms around her stomach. 

"She likes fear." Hiccup added. "That's how she controls the other dragons. If she were human ," and Hiccup thought dragon intelligence was on a similar level, "I'd say she likes the power that gives her. And she hates it when her power is questioned. She'll attack. I don't know when, there were no dragons on the island so I think my dad scarred them off, but when she calls them all back they'll attack."

And this time, he didn't have to say, the dragons wouldn't just burn down homes and steal sheep. 

"I don't know if she'll attack just us, it's impossible to tell if dragons can recognize the crests on sails and buildings, but we weren't the only tribe the nest raided. I'll guessing she'll attack all the tribes in the area."

At the mention of other tribes Gothi frowned.

"It would be a good idea to tell our allies about the potential attacks, but we have to consider who to tell that we've lost so many. Winter is almost here, we'll survive it without any trouble, but when the spring comes if other tribes know we are unprotected we'll be the first victim of starving raids. Harvest might be a problem too. We have less to feed, but also less to do the work."

Hiccup hadn't even considered other tribes. He had been focused on what to tell the rest of Berk, how to explain what had happened and try to get the village to accept him. How to, selfishly, use this chance to change Berk's view of dragons. But with a full scale dragon attack in the foreseeable future, and no other dragons to train, that might be hard.

He was suddenly grateful for the council. 

Gothi sighed, the motion taking up her entire small body. 

"We will meet in a few days to decide what to tell whom, but for now this information stays with Berk. I'm sure, with dragons at our gates, the rest of Berk is at the bottom of the stairs eager to hear what we have to say."

"And what will we say?" Hiccup asked.

"That the chief is dead, you will council us until you can claim the title of chief, and tonight we will hold a memorial for all who have died." Gothi gave another sigh and Hiccup wondered just how old the elder was. She had been gray and wrinkly before he had been born.

"We will mourn, Hiccup Horrendous Haddock the Third. We have all lost many people this morning. Family, friends. More than we have lost in a single blow in all of Berk's history. But we are vikings. We are used to death. We will survive."

* * *

Hiccup had stood next to Rancid as he made the announcement of what had happened at Dragon Island. Only the children had cried, how had he not noticed so many children on Berk before?, though he suspected that after doors had closed there had been private and silent tears.

He had shed his own that way, curled up in his father's bed. The house felt empty. Lonely. Hiccup wanted to burn it to the ground, but he knew he would regret it. Not only because he would then be homeless and fatherless, but also because the outdoor carvings had been done by his great and great-great grandfathers. His dad had redone the roof, runes of protection on the underside of every shingle, and had notched the stair support with Hiccup's growth. Hiccup himself had carved designs in the tables and wood around the firepit. 

Stoick had given him a helmet made of Valka's armor, but Hiccup didn't have anything personal belong to his father. All he had left was an empty house and his father's furious face the last time Stoick had looked at him.

He didn't have Toothless to comfort him either. 

It was too big, this house. He wanted something smaller and safer, without the reminders of Stoick. Hiccup grabbed a yak fur blanket and made his way to the forge. 

It was cold, the fires hadn't been lit for days and just walking into the smithy brought up painful thoughts of Gobber. But down in his drawing room, with its wall of designs and familiar smell of charcoal and oil, Hiccup could forget that the Gobber wasn't just outside.

Hiccup closed his eyes, imagining Stoick coming home late, shaking his head at the evidence of Hiccup spending the night at the forge again. Gobber was just a few feet away, cooling the fire before he would walk over to his own home. Everything was fine. Everything was normal.

He managed to trick himself into believing it enough to catch a few hours of sleep.

**Author's Note:**

> Those of who follow me on Tumblr might recall I'm also a bit into an original novel. Through various crits, I've realized one of my fallacies and I'm hoping you guys, you awesome readers you, can help me fix it.
> 
> Apparently, people aren't getting the endings they feel my stories (this novel and a couple short stories) are building up to.
> 
> So, I'd appreciate it if you could tell me in the comments each chapter where you think this story is going. Not what you want to see happen, that's different, but what, based on what you read, you think is going to happen in the future. What conflicts do you see coming up and except a resolution to? What themes or struggles do you see threading through out the story? What do you think is something that's going to be brought up again? What are you expecting me to address? What story framework can you see hiding amongst my words? And above all, why do you think that?
> 
> Telling me this helps me, because I'll be able to improve my writing craft for future stories. Telling me this helps you, because it ensures that as I'm writing future chapters I can write a story that doesn't feel incomplete at it's ending. I'm making sure this tale satisfies you.
> 
> This is all for you guys. 
> 
> Or maybe, more appropriately, this is all for the awesome feeling I get in my chest when I see comments and kudus on my stories. The better my stories, the more interactions I get. ^_^


End file.
